Summary - Annual Report 2000: Enforcing Loyalty - TCHRD

Annual Report, 2000: Enforcing Loyalty

Executive Summary (below)
Chapter 1: Political Repression
Chapter 2: Religious Freedom
Chapter 3: Racial Discrimination
Chapter 4: Rights of Women and Children
Chapter 5: Subsistence Rights
Appendices

Beijing's obsession with stability and control in Tibet was the predominant theme of the year 2000. China remains one of the few nations in the world which institutionalises human rights abuses and sustains an unacceptable degree of surveillance over and restriction upon - its people. Within this, there is a total disregard of the basic civil and political freedoms such as those of speech and assembly.

The year saw Beijing reinforcing old regulations and imposing new restrictive measures in Tibet to consolidate its control. Heightened restrictions were placed on religious and political activities: control over religious institutions became stricter, a ban was issued on the display of photographs of the Dalai Lama, and monitoring of Party cadres increased.

Conversely, it was also a year when Beijing made some desperate attempts to enhance its image on the international scene. High profile propaganda machinery- like the White Paper with a specific focus on Tibet- was used in an attempt to convince the world of alleged progress made in the field of human rights and preservation of Tibetan culture. China went as far as to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights on effecting human rights standards.

Since the mid-1990s, Beijing has lobbied intensively in the international arena to transform the "confrontational approach" adopted by many countries in their human rights relationship with China to a face saving bilateral dialogue. However, the serious deterioration in the human rights situation in both Tibet and China calls into question the efficacy of this new approach to human rights. The recent UK Parliamentary Report on China vouches for the futility of such a dialogue and urges the British government to toughen its line.

The principal area of repression in Tibet this year was on religious freedom. The entire Tibetan populace- without exception- suffered infringements on their right to freedom of religious belief. The authorities went as far as ransacking private homes of apolitical Tibetans during surprise checks for altars, Buddhist scriptures, and pictures of the Dalai Lama.

Intensification of the "patriotic re-education" campaign - aimed at indoctrinating the monastic population and the general populace against the Dalai Lama, his "Clique", and the whole foundation of Tibetan culture and religious tradition - was one of the overriding concerns of the year. "Work teams" were sent incessantly to even the most remote monasteries and nunneries to carry out this campaign. However, the imposition of "patriotic re-education" campaign did not undermine the faith of the Tibetans in the Dalai Lama. In fact, many have protested against it and as a consequence have either faced a prison sentence or expulsion from their institutions.

The year 2000 saw increasing paranoia on the part of the authorities with regard to the "communist loyalists" - party cadres and officials at all levels of the "TAR" government. This group of people were especially subjected to multiple and ongoing screenings to test their loyalty to the Communist party. Not only were they expected to be at the forefront in implementing orders, their private lives were encroached upon by close scrutiny and continuous vigilance.

In order to escape the Chinese atrocities and enjoy fundamental freedoms, thousands of Tibetans struggle across the Himalayas every year, even in the harshest winter months. The constant stream of refugees pouring out of Tibet to escape violent repression are confirming the multiple charges of flagrant disregard by Beijing for both ratified and signed international agreements, Chinese laws and the constitution itself. Of the approximately 2,660 Tibetans who have escaped into exile in the year 2000, there were 900 children below the age of 18, 507 women, 642 monks and nuns. These refugees are an ongoing source of information-gathering on the current situation in Tibet. Nevertheless, TCHRD believes that the information contained in this report is a fraction of the true picture of the situation in Tibet today.

Eliminating Political Dissent

TCHRD has documented 26 arrests during the year 2000. All of these arrests have been linked to political activities alleged as "endangering state security". With the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), and the redefinition of the charge "counter-revolutionary activities" to "endangering state security", Beijing has re-endorsed the continuing practice of arbitrary detention to crackdown on "subversive opinions". In most cases, Tibetans were detained either for participating in peaceful protests or for possessing pictures and audiotapes of the Dalai Lama.

Returnees from India also find themselves under close surveillance and control. They are seen as colluding with the "Dalai Clique" and indulging in "separatist activities". Renewed restrictions were imposed on them leading to the expulsion of 29 tour guides and the alleged detention of approximately 50 students returning from schools in India.

Torture is a prevalent occurrence in detention centres and prisons in Tibet, resulting in many serious physical and mental injuries, and deaths. Almost all the prisoners arrested have at some stage undergone severe physical abuse at the hands of either Public Security Bureau officers or prison guards- or often by both. A total of 37 political prisoners had their prison sentence extended, of which nine from Kandze had their sentence extended by five years.

Punitive measures were adopted to test the loyalty of Tibetan cadres to the Beijing regime. These actions included a ban on any religious display and withdrawing their children from schools administered by the Dalai Lama in India. "A freeze in promotion and transfer without hesitation" were stated as punishments for those cadres and government employees who failed to comply with the directive forcing Tibetans to bow to policies that not only affected them but their family membersâ lives and future as well.

Restricting Religious Freedom

Draconian campaigns aimed at annihilating the distinctive cultural and ethnic identity of the Tibetan race were initiated this year by the Beijing government. Close surveillance and control was exercised not only over the religious institutions, but also over the "cadre contingents" and the general populace. Because religion is central to Tibetan psyche, it is viewed as the root cause of "separatist activities" and instability in Tibet.

Raiding 18 houses of Tibetan members of the Lhasa-based Tibetan Opera Association in June 2000 in order to confiscate religious artefacts, altars, and statues is a clear indication of Beijing's interpretation of Tibetan nationalism as being intrinsically linked to its religious and cultural identity. Strict orders were also issued against the celebration of traditional Tibetan festivals, in particular the birthday celebration of the Dalai Lama.

Under the "Patriotic Re-education" campaign, "work teams" frequented the monasteries and nunneries to indoctrinate the monastic population. Long, drawn-out political classes have left no time for the study of Buddhist scriptures and prayer sessions. One of the core objectives of this campaign has been to combat the deep devotion of the Tibetan populace to the Dalai Lama and the influence of the "Dalai Clique".

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has recorded 862 monastic expulsions - including 147 nuns - in the year 2000 alone as a direct consequence of this "patriotic re-education" campaign. With this, the overall number of monks and nuns who have been expelled under the impact of the "patriotic re-education" campaign has now spiralled to 12,271. Nuns and monks comprise approximately 73 per cent of the known 451 political prisoners currently incarcerated in prisons in Tibet.

Cultivating Chinese Superiority

Tibetans continue to face unequal and unfair treatment in the fields of public representation, education, employment, housing, and health services. In addition, the deliberate policy of population transfer of Chinese into Tibet is contributing to further discrimination against Tibetans.

Refugee testimonies reveal a deep-seated racial prejudice among Chinese employers, which automatically categorises Tibetans as "incompetent and backward". It is a common pattern in the employment sector for Tibetans to automatically occupy the lower positions and Chinese the higher posts. As such, many Tibetans have reported the only method of obtaining employment is through bribery and guanxi (connections with officials). Widespread wage discrimination is common, with Tibetans receiving salaries that are half, and sometimes even less than their Chinese counterparts for the same job.

The structure and funding of the education system in Tibet today is highly discriminatory, with government expenditure largely concentrated on developing schools in areas with high populations of Chinese settlers. Some rural Tibetans have been forced to finance and construct educational institutions at their own expense. Tibetan parents and children report having to pay extortionate fees and miscellaneous expenses inapplicable to Chinese students, despite claims by the Chinese central government that primary education is free.

Tibetans continue to face large-scale discrimination in housing. Discriminatory allocation procedures ensure that Chinese immigrants are either guaranteed housing on arrival in Tibet or are put at the top of the waiting list. To make room for the new Chinese arrivals, huge numbers of Tibetan families have faced eviction from - and demolition of - their traditional residences. Those relocated were often given no compensation and forced to pay exorbitant rents, often after extended waiting periods.

Communist control penetrates every level of society and Tibetans enjoy no more political freedom of expression today than it did during the dark days of the Cultural Revolution. While there are a number of Tibetans holding positions of authority within this system, they constitute only a token representation, and do not actually possess any real or effective power-making decisions. Most of the time the appointments act merely as legitimising agents for the Party, or function to give the appearance that Tibetans are contributing to running their own country.

Controlling Women and Children

Refugee testimonies prove that many Tibetan women are suffering permanent disabilities and deaths from involuntary and inferior procedures of sterilisation and contraception. Poor health-care facilities, low quality medications, and unskilled medical practitioners lead to low levels of care and hygiene in hospitals. Huge fines are levied for disobedience to the birth control policies and extra children are denied the basic rights to status, healthcare and food.

Women, particularly nuns, continue to face repression for fighting for the right to pursue their religious beliefs within the system. Many are expelled from their nunneries and prevented from undertaking any religious activities and others are faced with lengthy prison sentences. A disproportionate number of Tibetans suffering imprisonment for political or religious beliefs are nuns.

Tibetan children are at the receiving end of an increasingly discriminatory educational system. Not only does the school curriculum lack Tibetan content; but the medium of instruction is Chinese in most schools. Additionally, high fees and prohibitive distances are preventing students from accessing the limited facilities available. With the implementation of age limits on religious institutions, children are also denied monastic education despite their interest in pursuing it.

Tibetan women are doubly disadvantaged when it comes to employment. Many young girls trying to find genuine employment end up in the flourishing trade of prostitution in the urban centres. Prostitution- and the inherent diseases involved- is of serious and growing concern in Tibet.

Impoverishing Tibetans

It is reported that over 70 per cent of Tibetans residing in the "TAR" are living below the poverty line. Issues of poverty and basic survival dominate the daily structure of life in Tibetan areas. A major proportion of the population faces problems of food shortages, access to health care, education, employment and housing.

Beijing makes constant claims about the improvements that have been made in terms of "development" in Tibet. In the name of development, government incentives are provided to a large number of Chinese to settle in Tibet. Their presence threaten the livelihood of the Tibetan people and is central to the government's integration of the Tibetan economy into the Chinese economy. Chinese settlers have come to dominate the Tibetan economy, and today they own virtually all the businesses in Tibet. The cost inflicted by five decades of Chinese rule has left the issue of "development" a tainted and controversial subject.

In contradiction to Beijing's official statements that no taxes have been collected from Tibetan farmers and nomads, in almost every single interview conducted by the TCHRD, Tibetan farmers and nomads specifically mentioned being subjected to excessive taxes. The taxation policy covers almost every aspect of subsistence - ranging from taxes on human life, animals, crops, grass, animal skins and education. Thus, while there exists a right to subsist, the means to do so are severely impaired. There is a distinct absence of any accountability or provision for appeal against what are in most cases harsh, unfair and discriminatory taxes.

Furthermore, unemployment and under-employment remain serious concerns in Tibet. Many Tibetans from farming and nomad families consider themselves employed in the sense that they help to look after the family animals or undertake lowly-paid construction or forestry work, despite their aspirations to other occupations. Their ability to access employment opportunities is seriously impaired by the inequalities deliberately designed into the system. This rural under-employment is all the more acute when it is placed in the context of China's planned urbanisation.

Recommendations

TCHRD urges international bodies to undertake to ensure that China ratifies the ICCPR and the ICESCR and takes immediate steps to incorporate the norms laid down in the two covenants within their national legislation and initiate implementation of the same.
TCHRD urges the Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia to visit Tibet and examine the effects of the Chinese Government's policies on education, employment, public representation, health and education, which discriminates against Tibetan people.
TCHRD demands that the Chinese government clarify and define the scope and extent of the term "endangering state security" in it's Criminal Procedural Law, which in its present ambiguous form is utilised to suppress multiple legitimised rights, including the right to freedom of speech and expression.
TCHRD demands the immediate and permanent removal of the baton from every member of all branches of security personnel. The electric-shock baton frequently used by police and prison personnel in a brutal and degrading manner has been employed particularly in the gender-specific torture of female prisoners.
Contravening all international norms pertaining to the rights of the child, the Chinese government has detained Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, since May 1995. TCHRD demands the immediate release of this youngest prisoner of conscience in the world.
Unofficial sanction of prostitution in Tibetan regions is encouraging growth and is a contradiction of practices implemented in the PRC. TCHRD demands that the Chinese government ensures that prostitution in Tibet is curbed by strictly implementing the laws which deem prostitution illegal.
Tibetans are subject to a harsh and discriminatory unofficial taxation policy. TCHRD urges the Chinese government to lay down a transparent taxation policy, especially in rural Tibet, to ensure a realistic system and a cessation of the misuse of power by the local authorities.
Based on the policies within Memorandum of Understanding that China signed with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in 2000, TCHRD urges the Chinese government to organise human rights educational programmes for government officials, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police and prison officials, universities and teachers.
TCHRD urges the international bodies engaged in "bilateral dialogue" on human rights with the Chinese government to recognise that to date it has not yielded any positive results but has been consistently utilised to evade international scrutiny and liability. This unproductive process should be discontinued.
TCHRD calls for the Chinese government to immediately cease all practices of sending "work teams" to religious institutions, and to desist from all efforts to coerce the monastic population to conform to the policies propounded in the "patriotic re-education" sessions.

[ Next: Chapter 1: Political Repression --> ]
[ Contents ] [ Recommendations ]